


All It Took Was A Tender Hug

by intoapuddle



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-06
Updated: 2013-05-06
Packaged: 2017-12-10 14:23:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/787045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intoapuddle/pseuds/intoapuddle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the beginning of filming season three of Glee, Darren and Chris's relationship accelerated from being friends, to best friends, to boyfriends. This is the story of how they did. (NC-17)</p>
            </blockquote>





	All It Took Was A Tender Hug

It started the first time Chris saw Darren cry, at the end of a day full of rehearsals

 

Darren was in his car, and Chris was on his way to his trailer. He had an early call in the morning, and based on his experience sleeping at home when he had to get to make up by 5 am never ended well for him.

 

At first Chris was going to walk up to the familiar car, the new one that Darren was so proud of, but when he'd seen Darren's face through the windshield he stopped. Darren's hair was still gelled, and the contrast of it with his very  _Darren_ graphic tee and hipster glasses always threw Chris off. But that wasn't what made Chris look away, appalled, feeling his face heat up and heart beat faster from confusion. It was that Darren took his glasses off his face, wet lower lip trembling, hands coming to cover his face. Darren's body was shaking from the force of his sobs, and Chris just stood there.

 

Darren was too caught up in the moment to notice that anyone was watching, it seemed. If it had been Lea, or Cory, or Kevin, or Amber or even  _Jenna_ sitting there, Chris would've approached the car immediately and knocked on the window. He would have demanded to know what was wrong and comforted them. But this was Darren, and Chris didn't know how to approach him yet.

 

With the others it was easy. Lea needed hugs and someone to feed her ego. Cory needed a pat on the back, but more than anything someone who listened. Kevin wanted to be left alone most of the times, but when he didn't Chris made sure to throw a cast-party in his trailer because dancing and laughter and jokes always made Kevin forget what was bothering him. Amber needed someone to tell her to call her mom, because amazingly she rarely thought of that solution herself. And Jenna... Well, Jenna and Chris weren't that close, but if Chris saw her upset before anyone else did he made sure to find someone closer to her to comfort.

 

Chris was good at comforting them. He was good at knowing what they needed, and after three and a half years together it had become automatic. He'd seen everyone on set have an emotional moment, whether it was after a particularly heavy scene or personal, because you can't hide that from people you spend most waking hours with.

 

It wasn't until now that Chris realized that he'd never seen Darren cry. Not like this. Darren was a crier when it came to movies, TV-shows, and music. Chris didn't take him for an emotional crier, figuring he didn't have a reason to be. Darren was always bouncing around with excessive energy and joy. He approached sadness the same way every time, and that was through smiles.

 

But not this time. And before Chris could figure out what to do with himself, Darren was pulling out of the lot and driving away.

 

*

 

Chris felt guilty. He felt as though he'd invaded on a private moment, a  _personal_ moment, that he hadn't been meant to see. A part of him tried to reassure himself that it was nothing. Everyone has off days. Everyone needs to let everything out every now and again.

 

But another part of him said that it was more than that, and that part of him made it impossible for him to look at Darren without thinking about that moment. If he'd just gone up to the car and asked Darren what was wrong nothing would've been weird between them now. Maybe they'd even been closer. But for some reason, Darren still felt like a new addition to Chris's everyday life, when in reality they'd been in each other's hair more or less every day for the past year now.

 

Chris's reaction only brought him to question his and Darren's relationship. They'd spent so many hours together, so much time. They'd gone on tour side by side, shared hotel rooms, killed time together during off-hours on set. And still Chris had felt as if frozen to the spot when Darren showed vulnerability.

 

It wasn't about being vulnerable, though. Not really. Chris had seen Darren be vulnerable many times. Darren had audibly requested alone-time several times during the tour. He'd gotten emotional on stage. No one would accuse Darren of being one to hold off on his emotions.

 

But that was why Chris was so confused as to how to approach the behavior that clearly signaled that Darren needed a friend. Some help. It had been the urgency of it, the way Darren's body  _shook_. Chris wasn't sure he'd seen anyone cry like that in real life bef0re. Honestly, it scared him.

 

But the following week, Darren was all bright smiles and private jokes like nothing had happened. The only thing different was  _Chris_ , because Chris had accidentally intruded on a private moment and it made him question every step that Darren took. It made him watch him more closely, but finding nothing that would justify the way Darren had been sniffing and sobbing in the privacy of his own car.

 

Chris was at a loss. He just didn't know what to do. So he went on with his life.

 

*

 

That was, until the second time he saw Darren cry.

 

It had been a day of recording songs and rehearsals in the dance studio. No filming. Most of the cast and crew were energetic and chatty. Amber kept messing up her steps during one particular routine, but the energy was bright enough for everyone to laugh it off and keep going. Zach tended to get a little pissed off and snappy when thing didn't go like they needed to, but today the energy was bright no matter the obstacle. It was just that kind of day.

 

Might have been the song. Might have been the weather. Whatever it was, nothing about the energy could prepare Chris for having to take care of someone else's emotional breakdown.

 

But that was the position he was evidently put in at the end of the day. Darren had been acting silly with the guys all day, tweeting cast mates that were sitting next to him and shoving his phone in people's faces. Just his typical behavior.

 

So when the dance studio emptied and Chris was left alone to stretch (his stretches always took twice as long. He was slightly OCD when it came to keeping his flexibility sharp.), there was no telling that he'd do anything but stand on up seven minutes later and go home without any disturbance.

 

But when Chris left the studio and walked out to the empty lot, feeling spent after the thorough exercise that dance rehearsals were, he was startled out of his train of thoughts by the sound of muffled sobs coming from behind the dumpster on the far-end of the row of trailers there.

 

Chris's heart beat faster, nerves coming in the shape of a spiderweb and nestling into and around his ribcage in an instant. He just  _knew_ that it was Darren. Chris couldn't tell why he was so extremely scared of being put in this situation, the one where he had to find Darren crying and ask him what was wrong, but he was terrified. Chris took a breath, tried to shake the nerves. He shouldn't even be able to get this nervous when his body was so lax and spent, but he was and it was uncomfortable.

 

Chris walked up behind the dumpster, and he had been right. It was Darren. Darren, with hair still wet from the shower. Darren in his V-necked, white t-shirt and grey sweats. His Freelance Whales canvas bag was on the ground beside him. Darren didn't notice Chris just yet. His back was to him, and his shoulders were shaking. Chris wasn't sure Darren would've noticed even if he'd been facing him.

 

“Darren?” Chris said, but his voice came out small, inaudible.

 

Chris cleared his throat and took a few more steps forward. He reached out his hand and put it on Darren's shoulder with a light squeeze, and Darren let out a startled yelp that would've been funny in any other situation, but not now. He turned around, face red, and his expression was nothing that Chris had seen on him before.

 

Darren's face was expressive, there was no way around it. He squinted when he sung, his mouth opened all the way, his brows furrowed and his nose flared. That was just the way he was, and after Chris had gotten used to it he barely noticed the way his face always seemed to scrunch and twist up into weird expressions.

 

The way he looked now reminded Chris of how much he enjoyed it when Darren's eyebrows wiggled involuntarily, or when his face scrunched during a particularly emotional note of a song. Because now Darren looked absolutely  _resentful_ , and Chris didn't know what to do with that.

 

“Are you okay?” Chris asked stupidly.

 

And then Darren's face softened, as if remembering who he was and who  _Chris_ was, but that also triggered the next string of sobs that emptied out of him in the same moment.

 

Chris put a hand Darren's shoulder silently and urged him closer. Darren stepped into Chris's arms without hesitation.

 

Chris normally didn't take notice of his and Darren's height-difference, but the way Darren rested his cheek onto his chest now made him fully aware of how small Darren was. So Chris wrapped his arms around Darren's narrow shoulders and carded his fingers through his damp hair. He rested his chin on top of Darren's head, completely enveloping Darren with his body. Soon enough Darren's cries subsided and he stopped shaking.

 

Chris didn't let go of Darren just yet. He simply stood there, and the arms that had been hanging uselessly on either side of Darren came to snake around Chris's waist as he sniffed.

 

“Feeling better now?” Chris whispered, voice slipping into Kurt-mode like it usually did when he was trying to comfort someone.

 

Darren cleared his throat before he spoke. “Yeah, uh, better,” he said, and his voice was lower than Chris was used to hearing it.

 

Darren took a renewing breath and breathed out through his mouth. Chris relaxed his arms a little out of the death grip they'd been around Darren's shoulders, and Darren straightened his back, looked into Chris's eyes.

 

“You wanna talk?” Chris asked, and the tone of his voice was so soft and apprehensive that it was verging on condescending, but he couldn't stop it.

 

Darren smiled then. It was small and barely-there, but Chris noticed it and his insides did a small victory-dance because of it.

 

“No, I think I'm fine,” Darren said, shaking his head a little.

 

He stepped out of the embrace, and it felt good to have some distance. The hug had been so warm and intense that the breeze that hit Chris now felt practically God sent.

 

“Are you sure?” Chris asked. People didn't cry like that without a reason.

 

Darren took a deep breath, inhaling through his nose and exhaling through his mouth.

 

“It's just been a long day,” Darren said then. “When I push myself physically like that it's like something snaps in me, I don't know. My body just gets drained and stuff.”

 

Chris had been in the position of pushing himself physically so hard he cried before, but not for the past year or two. He was fit now, and his body worked with him instead of against him. Chris would've thought Darren's body worked with him as well.

 

“Oh, I've been there,” Chris said with an understanding nod. “Season one of Glee?  _Everyone_ was crying after rehearsals. Even the crew. But I guess that was because we were so bad they didn't know what else to do.”

 

That startled a wet laugh out of Darren, and Chris chuckled with him.

 

“But I mean, you're much more fit than any of us were back then,” Chris said once the laughter subsided. “You're sure there isn't anything else going on?”

 

Darren picked the canvas bag off the ground and stretched his back a little, a contemplative look on his face.

 

“I'm just kind of overwhelmed,” Darren said with a shuddering sigh. “With being a regular and stuff. It's... it's a lot of pressure. I absolutely love it, of course, but... It's a lot.”

 

“Oh, you don't need to convince me, I know,” Chris said immediately.

 

The last thing he wanted was for Darren to think he was being ungrateful or taking things for granting just for admitting that some days on set were harder than others. If Chris didn't allow himself to feel like that he would probably have exploded by now. Working with TV was draining some days.

 

“At least the highs are better than the lows, right?” Chris asked when Darren just kind of stood there, shifting from foot to foot. “I mean-”

  
“Oh, definitely,” Darren agreed. “I'm so happy about being here and everything it's just...”

 

“Yeah,” Chris said, not needing the explanation.

 

They stood there silently then, taking each other in. Darren broke the silence just a couple seconds later.

 

“Thank you for...”, he gestured towards Chris, “the hug, I guess.”

 

“Oh, you don't need to thank me,” Chris said. “Any time, Darren. It really is okay to feel drained when you do this every day. I mean, everyone cracks at some point. It's... healthy, in a way.”

 

Darren nodded slowly, his gaze flicking a little. He almost looked like he was about to start crying again.

 

“I'm sorry if I scared you,” Darren said, and then he looked Chris in the eyes seriously. “I really didn't mean for anyone to hear me. I thought I was alone.”

 

“You rarely are when you're hanging around here,” Chris shrugged. “But don't apologize. It's fine. I can't tell you how many times I've comforted people around here, or been comforted. It's just part of it.”

 

“Yeah, yeah I know,” Darren said. “But it's just... You don't need to look after me more because of this, okay? I really am fine.”

 

“You're my friend, Darren,” Chris said with a crooked smile. “Of course I'm going to look after you. But I'm not going to tell anyone, that's for sure.”

 

Darren sighed, but when he met Chris's gaze again he almost looked grateful. Chris drew in a jagged breath but managed to smile, nodding reassuringly, and Darren smiled back.

 

“Okay, then,” Darren said. “I'm going home.”

 

“Yeah, me too,” Chris said casually. “God, I'm going to sleep so well tonight.”

 

They walked towards the parking lot together, all casual conversation as if nothing had happened, said their goodbyes, and got in their respective vehicles to drive home.

 

*

 

After that, every time Chris and Darren's eyes met across the room it felt as if they shared something. It hadn't been like watching anyone else on set cry. Chris knew everyone else too well to think any more of it than it being a fleeting moment, a sadness that could be fixed. Chris often referred to his cast mates as his siblings (much to Lea and Cory's dismay), but he couldn't say the same about his relationship with Darren.

 

He hadn't known Darren long enough. Darren hadn't known Chris at his most vulnerable. After season one of Glee, Chris had started to feel comfortable in his own skin. He grew, literally. His body became more firm and his baby fat seemed to disappear little by little every day. His features fit better on his face now. He learned his angles, how to carry himself, and the media started to decide what folder to put him in, making him less nervous when attending events or doing interviews. He became the person that he wanted to be, more or less. And after all that was done, when he had finally figured out who he was, he met Darren.

 

So, of course, Darren looked at Chris differently than the others on set. To them Chris was the youngest, the kid brother, the nerd that scolded Naya when she used the f-word one too many times during an interview. To Darren, Chris was somebody else. Chris didn't know exactly what or whom, but he didn't see him as a little brother. And Chris certainly didn't see Darren as an older brother.

 

And now, after having seen Darren at his lowest, there was something new between them. Something... exciting. Something that made Chris crawl out of his own skin with excitement when the next script said Kurt and Blaine would be getting more than just a couple exchanges in the episode, because it meant getting to spend more time together. It meant looking into those eyes that sparkled with something close to admiration and made Chris's cheeks flush in a good way. He just felt good around Darren. Darren always showed his delight so well when Chris was being smart and sarcastic with him. When others would groan and ask him to cut it out, Darren laughed and said something dumb to encourage Chris to keep joking around.

 

It was as if a knot had been untied, the weeks coming after Chris and Darren shared that moment. A knot that had kept them from being the full extent of themselves together. Now Darren and Chris were becoming a force to be reckoned with. The others joked that anywhere Chris was, Darren was probably on his way there if not already present. They became a part of each other and it was one of, if not  _the_  loveliest friendship Chris had ever had. Nothing was hard with Darren anymore. If he wanted to hold Darren's hand, he held Darren's hand. If he wanted a hug, Darren hugged him.

 

But of course, it was more than that.

 

Well, at first it wasn't more than that. At first it was absolutely innocent. Darren bringing Chris a diet coke to set just to make Chris's day better. Chris noticing the first small signs of Darren's discomfort and leading the conversation, or situation, elsewhere before it got to him too quickly. Grateful smiles and hugs. And then the script to an episode called The First Time came along, and Darren and Chris were going to kiss for the first time since summer tour. For the first time since they'd become as close as they were now.

 

And that was easier, too. Easier, and a lot more fun.

 

They ended up on the bed in Darren's trailer, laughing and kissing. With others, Chris had always had a hard time relaxing. He usually thought about technique and being graceful when someone else put their lips to Chris's, drunk or sober. Chris had never understood the idea of closing your eyes during kisses until he kissed Darren. But with Darren, they seemed to slip shut on their own and self consciousness went out the window like it did with everything else they did together.

 

It was nice to have Darren on top of him or under him. Chris had sworn to himself that he'd never be one of those TV show actor-clichés, that sneaked off set to make out in a trailer. He was a serious actor and serious actors knew not to take advantage of particularly pleasing scripts. But then Darren had requested a reading in his trailer and after that Chris realized how full of shit he'd been before he'd experienced just how good it felt to take advantage of getting to kiss Darren Criss on day to day basis.

 

The kisses were pretty vanilla, though. They were exploring and mostly just kind of happened if they happened to sleep in the same bed or hugged for a little too long. Then they came when they greeted each other and said goodbye.

 

After they wrapped that episode, knowing that they wouldn't get any more kisses in a while, they kind of stopped doing it as often. It was mutual, and they didn't think much of it. They were still close and hung out together. It was no big deal.

 

But then, one day, Darren wrapped his arm around Chris's shoulders and rested his head against him and whispered that he was in love with him.

 

Chris knew what he meant, though. They weren't on a relationship-stage of being in love. They simply loved who they were when the other was around. They were in love with their “us”. But Chris's heart had started beating harder when Darren had said it, and he ducked his head, face flushed red. Darren had grinned his victory, of  _course_  making Chris blush had been his angle, and then Chris had invited Darren over to his trailer.

 

And then the kissing started up again.

 

This time it was a lot more intense.

 

It was the first time Chris had gotten hard with someone else. Chris had a problem with intimacy (used to have a problem, his mind corrected him. With Darren it wasn't a problem.), that had given him a hard time when in that situation. Chris had managed a semi-boner a couple times with a guy he saw for a while, mostly because he wouldn't give up, even though the spark was barely there and Chris knew it was a lost cause.

 

And this time, with Darren, Chris got  _achingly_ hard, and it brought everything to a new level.

 

“Woah, hello,” Darren said when Chris's hard-on pressed against his hip the first time.

 

They were standing up against a wall, Darren tucked between it and Chris. They both knew that this wasn't like one of their regular make out sessions, if they could even call the previous ones that, but apparently Chris's reaction was a surprise to Darren anyway.

 

“Hi,” Chris responded, a little sheepish.

 

“You're turned on,” Darren said stupidly, fingers going to skim up and down Chris's sides aimlessly.

 

He was fucking smug about it. Of course he was.

 

“I'm not a freaking Ken-doll,” Chris groaned, chasing Darren's lips.

 

Darren turned his head away, though. When he faced Chris again he was smiling ridiculously, face a little redder than before.

 

“Are we really going to do this?” he asked.

 

“What, you want to make me come?”

 

Not until Chris said it, he realized what a good idea it was. What a  _great_  idea it was.

 

Darren seemed to have the same reaction, because his cock hardened next to Chris's as soon as the question was in the air. Darren didn't answer, not vocally. He just kissed Chris's neck a little harder, panted a little louder, lips smacking when Chris kissed him full on the lips. Which was all the response Chris needed.

 

“Make me come, Darren,” Chris whispered.

 

Darren complied by undoing Chris's pants. Chris moaned from the sheer relief it brought his full, aching cock, and then his breath caught in his throat when Darren spit into his palm, wrapped it around Chris, and twisted his wrist as he stroked Chris's shaft. It was different, so, so different from masturbating. Darren didn't know how to do it the way Chris liked it at first, but Chris shuddered and bucked his hips anyway. Just having someone else's hand down there, having  _Darren's_ hand down there, was good enough.

 

And then Darren started to get it right.

 

He squeezed a little too hard, the way that would hurt for any other guy but not Chris. Chris  _loved_  being squeezed and tightly fucked by Darren's fist.

 

“Yes, just like that,” Chris breathed into Darren's ear. “Fuck, yes, yes,  _please_.”

 

Chris wasn't one to beg. He rarely said 'please'. It felt weird even rolling off his tongue now, but it fit. Darren stopped then, for a second, before picking up the pace and jerking Chris off with twice the intensity. The moment was so fucking intense that Chris was basically drooling onto Darren's neck, he was so close, and then with a jolt in his muscles he came, breathing ragged and loud.

 

They stilled after that, and Chris was surprised that they were still able to  _stand_. Chris's hand went to cup Darren through his pants, because he wanted to return the favor  _now._ Fuck, what a favor it had been. But Darren was soft.

 

“You made me come in my pants,” Darren explained when he looked into Chris's eyes. “When you... When you said 'please'. It made me come.”

 

Chris couldn't explain the feeling that filled his chest at Darren's words, but he blushed and he smiled. Darren laughed and kissed Chris again. After a little they moved to the bed and lied there silently for a while. Darren's hand found Chris's on the bed, and despite of what they'd just been doing, Chris felt at peace in the same way he did when they were lying like this during an everyday lunch break or downtime on set. Things were so natural with Darren.

 

“You know, I meant what I said earlier,” Darren said after a little while.

 

His voice surprised Chris, because he'd been starting to think Darren fell asleep just a couple minutes ago.

 

“Oh, I believed you,” Chris grinned teasingly. “Can't believe you came in your pants.”

 

“No, not that,” Darren said and turned to his side, facing Chris.

 

Chris raised his eyebrows, confused. They hadn't had much of a conversation since they'd rubbed off on each other the past half hour.

 

“The thing I said earlier,” Darren said, and the hand in Chris's went up to his shoulder. His fingers started making patterns there. “Like... When I said I was in love with you.”

 

“Really?” Chris asked.

 

He'd had a feeling. A  _hunch_. But still.

 

“Yeah,” Darren said. “And you're in love with me.”

 

“And I'm in love with you,” Chris echoed with a smile. “So are we... Boyfriends?”

 

“This is so pre-teen it's ridiculous,” Darren giggled, blushing.

 

“If you got off with people in your pre-teens I think we have something to discuss, Darren,” Chris said, feigning a horrified expression.

 

“Like what?” Darren asked.

 

“Like, if you come in your pants at twenty five, how fast did you get there when you were  _twelve_?”

 

Darren swatted his hand on Chris's shoulder with an embarrassed laugh.

 

“Shut up,” he giggled. “You're so fucking mean. And no, I didn't get off with people in my pre-teens, okay?”

 

Chris practically yelled a laugh at how embarrassed Darren was. God, talking Darren into a corner was his favorite fucking thing.

 

“Meanie,” Darren grumbled, but he laughed with Chris anyway.

 

Once the laughter subsided Chris turned to his side and kissed Darren on the lips again, eyes slipping shut involuntarily like they did with him, and before he opened his eyes again he said,

 

“Yes, we are boyfriends.”

 

Darren hummed his consent, and their kisses turned slow and romantic.  

 

They'd always been romantic, Chris realized as they kissed. This was what it was like to kiss your  _boyfriend_ , who you were in love with. It tingled Chris's fingertips and lips, and it made his heart beat faster in a non-nervous way. It was romance.

 

And all because Chris had gathered the courage to comfort Darren that emotional evening, six weeks ago.

 

-The End.

 


End file.
